Portable Protein

I’m in the heaviest load of my training for my first Half Ironman. I make a lot of jokes about training and eating, but I love food. No seriously I really love food. Partly why I exercise so much is so I can eat all the delicious things the world of gastronomy has to offer. But the cycle is vicious, because when I train at these extraordinarily high volumes (burning twice my daily caloric intake in one workout at times!) I find myself needing to eat extraordinarily high volumes as well. Seriously, you might be appalled at the tonnage of food this petite redhead can put away. Often triathletes are accused of “hoovering” their food, it’s not pretty.

All jokes aside, I do need to make sure I’m getting enough calories, especially protein for muscles and sustained energy, throughout the day to get me through to the next workout. I started making these “Egg Muffins” a couple years ago when I was working a flex schedule, arriving at the office at 6:30am, working 10-11 hours, and running or working out at lunch. I needed something that would give me enough calories to get through the long morning. I’ve become addicted since then. They’re very easy to make, don’t require a lot of special ingredients, portable, and very satisfying. Best part, you make 1-2 weeks worth in advance! I pack them in my lunch and eat them at work, or as a quick protein snack on the go any other time!

Crack eggs in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add milk or whatever you usually add to scrambled eggs. Whisk eggs thoroughly. Add mixers. Add cheese mixers if you like. Mix well. Grease muffin cups if they are not nonstick. Pour or ladle eggs into muffin cups about 2/3 full. Top with extra mixers or cheese mixers.

Bake 25-30min. The muffins will puff up as you bake them. When time is up and they appear to be puffed, turn off the oven. But leave the muffins in the oven to cool down with the oven!! If you take them out and let them cool at room temperature, they will sink in the middle. Once cooled enough to handle the tin, remove from oven and allow to cool before storing.

To reheat: Microwave for 30-60 seconds depending on microwave strength.

mushrooms, spinach, monterey jack

NOTES:

Storage: Muffins can be stored in containers or sandwich bags in fridge for 1-2 weeks. They can be frozen for quite a good bit of time too. I do recommend allowing them to thoroughly cool before freezing to avoid any frozen condensation and allowing to thaw before reheating to prevent extra moisture.

Muffin tins: I prefer the oversized tin with 6 cups instead of 12 for larger muffins. But when I’m not in heavy training, I use the 12 smaller ones instead.

Eggs: I pick 10 eggs because it’s not quite 2 eggs per each muffin (it’s actually 1 2/3), but any amount will do. Decide how much or little protein you want and go crazy!

Mixers: Don’t over think this. I take stock of whatever I have in my fridge/pantry that needs to be used. I love mushrooms so I usually cut up mushrooms very small and add them. If I have spinach on hand I add that for the potassium, just tear it up into tiny pieces. The key is adding everything finely chopped so it distributes evenly. Fresh herbs from the garden are lovely in the summer, or any other kind of seasoning you like. You can also forego mixers and go natural. I like regular egg muffins too. Also, sometimes I wait to add the mixers until after I’ve put the egg mixture into the tins. There is no wrong way to do this!

Cheese mixers: I just check what I have on hand in the fridge. Then I sprinkle, cut up, grate, dollop whatever cheese or combination of cheeses I want into the mixture/tins. I like to sprinkle some kind of shredded or grated cheese over the top of the muffins so it bakes in on top. Parmesan or regular shredded mozzarella or cheddar is great for this. But also like to cut up chunks of other cheeses like havarti into the eggs. A nice herby goat cheese chevre bakes up lovely too!